Newcomers help RailRiders drop IronPigs

The RailRiders have been so short-handed in recent weeks, filling the positions on the field has been equally as challenging as winning ballgames.

But on Saturday night in Lehigh Valley, some of the reinforcements showed the team can still do both.

It was Dan Johnson's two-run single in the first inning that sent the RailRiders on their way, but lefty David Huff, infielder Walter Ibarra and a slew of newcomers helped them trounce the IronPigs, 7-0, at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown.

The RailRiders snapped a two-game losing streak with the victory, which drew them within 2-1 in the newly formed IronRail Series.

Needless to say, it was the newest RailRiders who made the biggest impact.

On the mound, Huff helped make Johnson's early RBIs stand up.

He allowed only two singles in his 4â  innings of work, not walking a hitter for the third straight appearance since he joined the RailRiders in late May. Mark Montgomery, Chase Whitley, Sam Demel and Matt Daley combined to give the RailRiders 4â  innings of four-hit, shutout ball in back of him.

The bats that struggled in the first two games of the series, and who were still without center fielder Melky Mesa (shoulder) and third baseman Ronnier Mustelier (midsection), made those innings easy ones.

Catcher J.R. Murphy picked up his first three Triple-A hits, and the first two factored into the RailRiders' early onslaught. He scored on Johnson's sharp single in the first, then knocked in a run with a line drive single to center against Lehigh Valley starter Raul Valdes in the second.

The game stayed 4-0 until the eighth, when the RailRiders broke it open against reliever J.C. Ramirez.

Newcomer Cody Grice started the inning by working a walk. Later, he'd steal a base and score on Ibarra's long double to center. Ibarra stole a base and would score on a sacrifice fly by Addison Maruszak, who went 1 for 3 and was on base three times out of the leadoff spot.

Ibarra added a final insurance run in the ninth when he ripped a ground-rule double to left against right-hander Justin Friend, capping a big day for the RailRiders and their gamut of new players.

Ibarra was 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Grice was on base three times, and Murphy went 3 for 6 with an RBI.

Contact the writer: sports@timesshamrock.com

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